Study: Single guys only wash their bed sheets every few months

Well here’s one way to stay single. A new study found that single guys aged 18 to 25, on average, only wash their bed sheets four times a year. More than one-fifth said they “didn’t see the need” and another 19 percent “didn’t care.”

Unattached women, on the other hand, change the sheets every couple weeks. Probably because they don’t want to sleep on built-up grime and dead skin.

The study says couples wash the bedding ever 2.3 weeks, on average, with women responsible for 81 percent of the washing. Once we reach the 35 to 50 age range, however, people get more hygienic, many of them changing their sheets weekly (which, incidentally, is what Martha Stewart advises).

Memo to those guys who “didn’t care” or “didn’t see the need” to change it up a little more frequently, remember this: You’re not going to bed alone, the Wall Street Journal will have you know. Dust mites love your too-infrequently-washed bed fixings because they feed on the accumulated dead skin. You’re welcome for the visual.

“Human skin cells become food for dust mites,” Philip M. Tierno Jr., director of clinical microbiology and immunology at New York University’s Langone Medical Center, tells WSJ. “That is one of the biggest problems associated with bedding. Mites accumulate, along with their feces. But there is also animal hair, dander, fungal mold, fungal spores, bodily secretions and bacteria. Also: dust, lint, fibers, particulates, insect parts, pollen, soil, sand and cosmetics. One person can perspire as much as a liter in a night — even more if you have a lot of covers.”

That’s a lot of gunk.

The biggest thing to worry about, though, is allergies. People with asthma or allergic reactions should clean more frequently to avoid irritation.

More than cleanliness, though, is the principle of the thing. Would you really want to invite someone to your bed that’s gone unwashed for months?